Marking device



April 1952 F. E. COLLINS 3,029,773

' MARKING DEVICE Filed April 15, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. FRANK E. COLL/NS BY A T TORNE 1 5 April 1962 F. E. COLLINS 3,029,773

MARKING DEVICE Filed April 15, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IV EN TOR. FRANK E COLL/MS A 7' roRA/Eys United States Patent 3,029,773 MARKING DEVICE Frank E. Collins, 865 San Jude, Palo Alto, Calif. Filed Apr. 15, 1960, Ser. No. 22,556 7 Claims. (Cl. 1181) This invention relates to marking devices for applying coded marks to articles carried by a moving conveyor.

In many types of industries it is often desirable to mark articles with a coded mark or marks which indicate the date of manufacture, place of assembly, etc. This is particularly important in the handling of perishable items such as milk, bread, etc.

Although the marking device of this invention can be used in many different industries, it is explained with particular reference to the dairy industry.

At the present time, it is common practice to mark milk bottle caps on bottled milk to indicate the bottling date, and thus insure that the oldest milk is sold first, and that milk is not kept by a dealer too long.

It is desirable to mark the bottle caps as inconspicuously as possible, and the marking apparatus should be able to accommodate bottles of various heights passing the marker. The marking device should also be of such a nature that it is easy to change the coded mark applied to the articles. This invention provides a marking device which meets all of these needs.

Briefly, the marking device of this invention includes a lifting arm disposed in the path of articles to be marked and carried by a conveyor belt or its equivalent. The arm is mounted to be pivotable about an axis transverse to the direction of the movement of the articles past the arm so the arm is lifted and dropped by each article moving past it. Marking means, such as a pen, is secured to and spaced from the arm so as to contact each article as the article drops the arm.

In the preferred form of the invention, means are provided for adjusting the height of the arm over the conveyor belt, and means are also provided for adjusting the arm laterally with respect to the direction of article travel. Preferably, the arm is mounted to pivot about a horizontal shaft, and a stop is provided for limiting the downward swing of the arm as it is released from an article to prevent the arm from swinging down against a succeeding article with such force as to chip or break it. The marking means is a pen or the like which is mounted slightly above and beyond the end of the portion of the arm which is last in contact with the article before being dropped. With this arrangement, the pen momentarily contacts only the trailing portion of the article to leave an inconspicuous mark. Preferably the pen is removable and adjustable with respect to the lifting arm so that the size and position of the mark can be varied, as well as its color.

These and other aspects of the invention will be more fully understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the marking device just prior to the arm being dropped to cause the pen to mark a milk bottle cap;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the marking device just after marking a milk bottle cap;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of the marking device in the initial stage of lifting of the arm by a milk bottle;

FIG. 4 is a side elevation of the device in which the pen is marking the cap;

FIG. 5 is a plan of a milk bottle with a cap marked with the device of this invention; and

FIG. 6 is a view taken on line 66 of FIG. 2.

Referring to the drawings, a first milk bottle 10 and a second milk bottle 12, each with a cap 13, are carried 3,029,773 Patented Apr. 17, 1962 by a conveyor belt 14 past the marking device 16 in the direction indicated by the arrow of FIG. 1.

The marking device includes an upright post 18, the lower portion of which extends through a vertical sleeve 15' secured to a side rail 20 adjacent the conveyor belt. A bolt 22 is threaded through the sleeve 19 and bears against the post to prevent it from sliding in the sleeve. Thus, the post can be adjusted vertically by loosening and tightening the bolt 22 to accommodate articles of various heights, such as quart and pint milk bottles.

A horizontal shaft 26 is formed integrally with the upper end of the post 18 and extends over the conveyor belt perpendicular to the direction of conveyor belt travel. An elongated lifting arm 28 is secured at its forward end to the underside of a bearing 30 mounted on the horizontal shaft 26 so the lifting arm is pivotable about the longitudinal axis of the shaft. The bearing 30 is secured against movement along the shaft by a pair of collars 32 set on each side of the bearing and held in place by Allen screws 34 which bear against the shaft and prevent sliding in a longitudinal direction along the shaft. The collars bear against the inner race (not shown) of the bearing 30 so that they do not interfere with the rotation of the bearing 30 and arm 28 about the longitudinal axis of the shaft 26. The position of the arm can be shifted along the shaft by loosening the screws 34 and sliding the bearing to the desired location. The collars are moved adjacent the inner race of the bearing and the screws 34 are then tightened to keep the bearing in the new position.

A generally L-shaped bracket 35 has a relatively short section 36 secured to the upper surface of the lifting arm to extend perpendicular to the arm. A longer section 33 of the bracket is formed integrally with the upper portion of the short section 36 and extends generally parallel to the lifting arm and terminates beyond the tear or trailing end 40 of the lifting arm, which is tapered to a point as shown most clearly in FIG. 1.

A marking pen 42 is secured by a clamp 44 to the rear end of the bracket so the point 46 of the pen is disposed just above and to the rear of the rear end of the lifting arm. The pen may be of conventional type such as that sold under the trade name Cado. Although the ink used may be of various types, I have found that it is preferable to use a fast drying vinyl ink in an alcohol base. The ink is supplied commercially in different colors by the makers of the Carlo pen. The clamp which holds the pen includes an adjustable screw 48, which permits the point of the pen to be adjusted along the longitudinal axis of the pen, or permits the pen to be changed when it is desired to mark with a different color.

A horizontal U-shaped stop bar 50 is secured at one end to one end of the shaft 26, and at its other end to the end of the shaft 26 formed integrally with the upright post. A central transverse portion 52 of the stop bar passes under the longer portion 38 of the bracket so that the downward swing of the lifting arm is limited by the stop as shown in FIG. 2.

The operation of the marking device will be understood from the following description. The unit is set up at the marking station Where the bottles are to be marked as shown in the drawings. For the purpose of explanation, it is assumed that the first bottle 10 has just passed the marking device so that the arm has dropped to its lowermost position with the stop preventing it from dropping farther. The cap 13 on the first bottle 10 has thus received a code mark 54 on the portion of the periphery nearest the pen.

As the conveyor belt moves to the right as indicated by the arrows in FIG. 2, the top of the second bottle engages the underside of the lifting arm and raises it to the position shown in FIG. 3, Continued movement of the second bottle causes the cap 13 to pass from under the pointed end of the arm, permitting the pen to fall and contact the trailing edge of the bottle cap as shown in FIG. 4, and thus make a mark 58 as shown in FIG. 5.

The stop permits the pen to fall sufficiently far to mark the caps on milk bottles of normal height, which may vary as much as inch, and yet the stop prevents the lifting arm from swinging back against the side of an approach- -ing bottle, which could be chipped or broken by such action.

From the foregoing description, it will be apparent that the marker of this invention provides a positive but unobjectionable code mark on each article passing under it. Due to the relationship of the marking pen and the lifting arm, the pen engages only a small portion of the article and does not smear a mark over a large area. In addition, the pen is easily adjusted to provide marks of different sizes or ditferent colors, which can easily be distinguished from each other.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for marking a plurality of articles moving serially past a marking station, the apparatus comprising a lifting arm disposed in the path of the articles to be marked, means mounting the arm to be pivotable about a substantially horizontal axis transverse to the direction of the articles past the arm so the arm is lifted and dropped by each article moving past it, and marking means secured to and spaced from the. arm to contact each article as the article drops the arm.

2. Apparatus for marking a plurality of articles moving serially past a marking station, the apparatus comprising an elongated lifting arm disposed in the path of the articles to be marked, means remote from one end of the arm for mounting the arm to be pivotable about a substantially horizontal axis transverse to the direction of the articles past the arm so the arm is lifted and dropped by each article moving pastit, and marking means secured to and spaced above the arm and from the end of the arm in the direction in which the articles more to contact each article as the article drops the arm.

3. Apparatus for marking a plurality of articles moving serially past a marking station, the apparatus comprising a lifting arm disposed in the path of the articles to be marked, means mounting the arm to be pivotable about a substantially horizontal axis transverse to the direction of the articles past the arm so the arm is lifted and dropped by each article moving past it, marking means secured to and spaced from the arm to contact each article as the article drops the arm, and stop means to limit the downward travel of the arm when it is released by an article.

4. Apparatus for marking a plurality of articles mov ing serially past a marking station, the apparatus comprising a lifting arm disposed in the path of the articles to be marked, means mounting the arm to be pivotable about a substantially horizontal axis transverse to the direction of the articles past the arm so the arm is lifted and dropped by each article moving past it, marking means secured to and spaced from the arm to contact each article as the article drops the arm, and means for adjusting the position of the marking means with respect to the arm.

5. Apparatus for marking a plurality of articles moving serially past a marking station, the apparatus comprising a lifting arm disposed in the path of the articles to be marked, means mounting the arm to be pivotable about a substantially horizontal axis transverse to the direction of the articles past the arm so the arm is lifted and dropped by each article moving past it, and a colored pen secured to and spaced from the arm to contact each article as the article drops the arm.

6. Apparatus for marking a plurality of articles moving serially past a marking station, the apparatus comprising a lifting arm disposed in the path of the articles to be marked, means mounting the arm to be pivotable about a substantially horizontal axis transverse to the direction of the articles past the arm so the arm is lifted and dropped by each article moving past it, means for adjusting the height of the said axis with respect to the articles moving past it, and marking means secured to and spaced from the arm to contact each article as the article drops the arm.

7. Apparatus for marking a plurality of articles moving serially past a marking station, the apparatus comprising a lifting arm disposed in the path of the articles to be marked, means mounting the arm to be pivotable about a substantially horizontal axis transverse to the direction of the articles past the arm so the arm is lifted and dropped by each article moving past it, means for adjusting the position of the arm laterally along said axis with respect to the direction of travel of the articles past it, and marking means secured to and spaced from the arm to contact each article as the article drops the arm.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,838,153 Phelps Dec. 29, 1931 

